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Antkind: A Novel
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 25 hrs and 42 mins
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Antkind: A Novel
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Summary
The bold and boundlessly original debut novel from the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Synecdoche, New York.
B. Rosenberger Rosenberg, neurotic and underappreciated film critic (failed academic, filmmaker, paramour, shoe salesman who sleeps in a sock drawer), stumbles upon a hitherto unseen film by an enigmatic outsider - a film he’s convinced will change his career trajectory and rock the world of cinema to its core. His hands on what is possibly the greatest movie ever made, a three-month-long stop-motion masterpiece that took its reclusive auteur 90 years to complete, B. knows that it is his mission to show it to the rest of humanity. The only problem: the film is destroyed, leaving him the sole witness to its inadvertently ephemeral genius.
All that’s left of this work of art is a single frame from which B. must somehow attempt to recall the film that just might be the last great hope of civilisation. Thus begins a mind-boggling journey through the hilarious nightmarescape of a psyche as lushly Kafkaesque as it is atrophied by the relentless spew of Twitter. Desperate to impose order on an increasingly nonsensical existence, trapped in a self-imposed prison of aspirational victimhood and degeneratively inclusive language, B. scrambles to re-create the lost masterwork while attempting to keep pace with an ever-fracturing culture of 'likes' and arbitrary denunciations that are simultaneously his bête noire and his raison d’être.
A searing indictment of the modern world, Antkind is a richly layered meditation on art, time, memory, identity, comedy and the very nature of existence itself - the grain of truth at the heart of every joke.
Critic reviews
"Outstanding. Combining his films’ most urgent themes and recurring concerns in a format that supports the digressions and logic-loops he’s so famous for, Charlie Kaufman may have out-Kaufmaned himself." (The i)
"A very strong debut novel, a long, anguished spill of a book, full of buried furies and nervy philosophical expeditions, constantly tossing off sparks of humour and imagination...at once surreal and highly readable." (LA Times)
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What listeners say about Antkind: A Novel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amor
- 15-06-21
Decent
Too much rambling (even for Kaufmann!) without the story moving ahead in second half of the book ruins the experience.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- DM
- 08-09-20
Brilliantly performed
I approached this as a comedy, first and foremost, and I wasn't disappointed on that front - it's one of the funniest books I've read (heard?) in a while. I got strange looks as I listened to it while out on my bicycle, chuckling away. Special mention goes to the narrator, Fred Berman. Sounding a little like a slightly gruffer David Sedaris, his voice and delivery is perfectly suited to the dry, absurdist humour of the book. It's one of my favourite audiobook performances ever.
The story itself is wild, meandering, incomprehensible, endless, messy, stupid, clever, tiring, energising and sad; more a surreal vehicle for (often excellent) set-pieces and gags. There is a three-month-long stop-motion-animation film that must be mined from an imperfect memory using a charismatic, whistling hypnotist (initially). This film is about two (or three...or four) vintage comedy double-acts. Or is it? I don't know. There is also Donald Trump robots, shoes, digging, clowns, doppelgangers, books-within-books, films-within-books, films-within-films-within-books, time travel, twins, tiny talking donkey puppets, ants, sex with mountains, etc, etc, etc. Does it get tiresome? Yes. Especially in the last 10 hours or so.
I recommend it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- SCF
- 30-03-23
Brilliant production
The best fit between narrator and novel I have come across. Judd Apatow wept.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Malwina Tritt
- 18-01-21
The weirdest thing
This is the weirdest book I've ever encountered. And I suffered through Danielewski's "House Of Leaves". It's filled both with gibberish and some sort of profound wisdom simultaneously. Not for everybody, probably not for me either but I found some pleasure in suffering through it, and it left me bamboozled in the end. Certainly not your typical piece of literature and if you don't find Charlie Kauffman's movies even remotely enjoyable, this book is definitely not for you. Frustrating and beautiful.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Harry Roberts
- 22-10-21
great narration, weird book
the narration is great and very engaging, while the content is an absurd psychedelic fever dream of self deprecating literal misinterpretation.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dannyboyjunior
- 20-09-20
Outstanding
If this book doesn’t win the Oscar for best book written by a film person then The Oscars will need to take a long hard look at itself/thonself.
The narration is superb and makes this a must listen, even if you’ve read the book.
Disregard the one star reviews, they’re written by people who like Starbucks and Christopher Nolan.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pippington
- 08-06-21
Hilarious and brilliant and profound.
I've not finished listening to this yet but I can already tell you that it's BRILLIANT.
I'm four hours into the book and, so far, top marks to the narrator. Thon has been superb at every moment.
Very highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Eugene
- 04-05-21
charlie kaufman
This book will teach you to hate charlie kaufman, because you are charlie kaufman we are all charlie kaufman.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- AWH
- 17-09-20
Bloated and self-indulgent
I know it’s only September but this will undoubtedly scoop my award fir the worst book of 2020. It is bloated, over-long and horribly self-indulgent. It’s only redeeming feature is the terrific performance by Fred Berman. I used to really enjoy Charlie Kaufman’s screenplays but this and his awful adaptation of ‘Im Thinking of Ending Things’ (Netflix) have similar features of a bizarre solipsism devoid of any ‘sensible’ external editorial control.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Mr E.
- 15-10-20
this book is obese
Excessively fatty and morbidly self-indulgent. Some decent moments, but they require a hell of a lot of chewing to get to any tasty bits, which in the end just don't feel worth it
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